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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Will the U.S. Supreme Court really rule unconstitutional a law that provides for health care for all Americans, whether they've been sick previously or been too poor to afford insurance premiums but not poor enough for federal assistance? Here's what UCLA law professor Adam Winkler says in the Huffington Post about the court:

... the justices on today's Court have shown little inclination to avoid flexing their muscles on important political issues of the day. There are few stronger trends in the Supreme Court than judicial assertiveness. A Court that could decide a disputed presidential election in Bush v. Gore; unleash Citizens United on our electoral process; and repeatedly wade into presidential war powers can be expected to have no hesitancy deciding the fate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. So when the justices breezily ignored the plain language of the Anti-Injunction Act on Monday, it was predictable. The Court wants to decide all of the major issues in American politics, including this.

No matter what the ruling, expected this summer, there will be huge political fallout. It could hurt Obama if the Republicans can convince the country that he and the Democrats were pushing a socialist agenda. Or it could hurt the Republicans if the American people, now enjoying certain rights under the Affordable Care Act, lose them. Here's the New York Times on the politics, a Washington Post story on the third day of the Supreme Court hearing and here's a Q and A from the Post on what happens next.

More by Leslie Newell Peacock

Contrary to rumor, Live Life Chill, the bar/restaurant in the erstwhile Revolution Taco and Tequila Lounge space at the corner of Cantrell and President Clinton Avenue, is not closed. Service manager Lindsey McFadin called the Times this afternoon to say a rumor the bar had closed was killing business; by 3 p.m., no one had been in. The Times, too, had heard the rumor from a number of sources. What has changed, McFadin said, is that the bar is now only open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

M2 Gallery, located for 12 years in the Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center, has made the move to 1300 Main St. in the hopping SoMa neighborhood and will hold its Grand (Re)opening from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 30.

Under a settlement agreement filed in federal court today, Entergy Arkansas has agreed to quit burning coal at its White Bluff plant by the end of 2028, its Independence plant by the end of 2030 and to shutter its remaining operating plant at Lake Catherine by the end of 2027.

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What's purported to be a final-words essay from condemned prisoner Kenneth Williams was distributed today by Deborah Robinson, a freelance journalist in Arkansas. He reflects on his execution, his victims, reactions of inmates and big servings of fried chicken, which he says are given to all inmates on execution days.

June 2018 is the expected publication date for a novel collaboration by former President Bill Clinton and crime writer James Patterson.

Slideshows

Arkansas vs Ole Miss at War Memorial stadium in Little Rock, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. After leading for much of the game, Arkansas lost 37-33 when Ole Miss scored the game winning Touchdown with less that 2 minutes left.